14 June, 2012

As I sit here writing this, the House of Commons in Canada is in a marathon voting session on the infamous omnibus budget bill, Bill C-38, put up and being rushed through into law by the Conservative Party of Canada.

The opposition New Democratic Party, Liberal Party, and Green Party are staging a heroic effort to delay passing of the bill by introducing multiple amendments, each of which requires a vote. The members of parliament have been at it all night and are expected to be there, standing for each vote, for 6 hours more. Although the opposition parties won't be able to stop the vote due to an overwhelming majority of conservative seats, they are supporting democracy by not making it easy for the government, who has hidden environmental oversight killing measures, attacked old age security, and even killed our fisheries protection in this legislation. In fact the bill is so long, comprising some 400 pages, that it is as unwieldy as it is vague in allocating directly to Ministers and their sole discretion, protections that were formerly written into Canadian law.

Like most other unpalatable legislation the government has rushed through, this bill has allowed the government to grab powers that should properly be left to already carefully considered legislation developed after years of measured consultation. Our environmental study protections were painstakingly crafted and are presently working quite well to help protect habitat and First Nations' rights. When this legislation is passed, it will considerably shorten the process and allow the minister powers to override it. We all know that this government is in favour of ramming in pipelines without any care at all for wildlife in their paths, and I predict this is exactly what will happen now.

I've been watching CPAC for the last several days. For any of you abroad, that's the House of Commons on TV. What that has made clear to me is that Canadian democracy is not working. About 100,000 Canadians on 2 petitions that I have seen, the Avaaz petitionandthe Care2 petition, have spoken loudly about their opposition to this bill. Many, many people have tweeted and emailed their representatives in Parliament; yet I watched, as one Conservative minister sniffed at them as an odd "assortment of tweets and emails".

In fact, as I watched the pre-voting debate, Conservative ministers and members responded to well-thought out questions by opposition members who were speaking out for their constituents and the people with pre-scripted PR statements that they read off papers in their hands. Rarely was a question answered at all. If it was, it was usually with a snearing personal attack on the questioner or the questioner's party. The lack of gravitas on the government's part was shocking to me. I had somehow not quite realized that parliamentary debate had descended to name slinging and non-answers prepared by and rubber-stamped by the Government, designed to avoid real debate.

Any sense of our government cooperating in developing policy that was good for Canada, any sense of Parliamentarians as servants of the public, and as people held to a higher sense of purpose for the good of us all, has vanished from Canadian politics. It's easy to see why many Canadians are so discouraged and turned off of politics that they won't even vote. It's apparent that we have turned over our so-called democratic process to a Parliament that neither works nor cares to work.

Is it all about self-interest, self-satisfaction, doing whatever you want with no regard or reaction to public protest? With the present system, all you need to be a defacto dictator is a cadre of yes-men and women who will vote with you no matter what their conscience and constituents dictate. There's no room and no notice taken of what the public wants. As long as you can keep the larger majority from figuring out what you're doing in time (witness the cuts to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation), you can do what you like and then put a PR spin on it to appease the masses.

Bill C-38 is named the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act. This, despite the fact that it will cut 19, 000 civil service jobs, curtail eligibility to unemployment benefits, especially for seasonal workers, and raise the Old Age Security entitlement from 65 to 67, ensuring more poverty for seniors who can't work or don't have jobs in those last few years. Yet the government says there will be JOBS. No doubt they expect some of those civil servants and senior workers to move across the country to work on the new oil pipeline.

We need reform to take account of the public's opposition to
legislation and to allow politicians to cooperate more fully in
developing good laws without resorting to curtailing debate and ramming
contentious legislation through without sufficient consideration. I'm calling on the Canadian Parliament to become better, to supplant partisan politics with a more democratic system. I'm tired of watching empty debate and political spinners. I want people in Ottawa who will carefully consider the welfare of the people and what they want and not their own smug self-promoting ideas.

04 June, 2012

Launched on May 7, Black Out Speak Out (or Silence, on parle!,
in French) invites organizations, businesses and citizens from across
Canada to darken their websites on June 4, and speak out against changes
introduced in the federal government’s budget act (C-38) by darkening
their websites and taking other actions on June 4.

Right now, Parliament is pushing through a bill (Bill C-38) to weaken many of the
country's most important environmental protection measures and silence
the voices of all Canadians who seek to defend nature. Today it's our
voice; tomorrow it could be yours.

Here are the top five reasons to Speak Out:

Charities are being targeted. The government is adding $8
million in new funding for the Canada Revenue Agency to audit charities
like environmental groups in spite of the fact they have simply
exercised their legal right to advocate for things like laws to fight
global warming. This will have a chilling effect on democratic debate.
What's more, under these new laws, citizen groups will likely be shut
out of environmental reviews of big projects like oil pipelines. Key
government agencies with expertise will also have less input.
Well-funded backroom lobbyists and political operatives will have
greater influence.

Canadians' participation in Parliament is being disrespected. Instead
of following the established process for making sweeping changes, which
allows for thorough public debate, these changes are being shoehorned
into a massive budget law. This drastically reduces the amount of
consultation on a whole variety of topics. These changes will have
serious consequences for all Canadians and our voices are not being
heard.

Nature is being put at serious risk. The Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act is being replaced with a totally new law.
Under it, Ottawa will play a much smaller role in protecting people from
harmful projects, while retaining the right to basically rubber-stamp
big projects that powerful oil interests want. And the new weaker rules
are being applied to review processes that are already underway–so
projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway tankers and pipeline project
could get an easier ride.

Too much power is in the hands of too few.The National
Energy Board will no longer be able to say "no" to oil pipeline projects
that are not in the public interest. Politicians in Cabinet will be
able to overrule the expert energy regulator if powerful oil interests
don't like its decision. Permits that allow the destruction of habitat
for fish and threatened or endangered species will now be issued behind
closed doors without public scrutiny, if they are required at all.

Trusted advisors to government that provide high-quality analysis for balanced policy are being ignored. The
2012 budget eliminates the funding for the last remaining government
advisory body – the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy
(NRTEE). The NRTEE provides analysis and advice on how to meet our
international commitments to reducing greenhouse gas pollution. Many
lakes, rivers and streams that provide habitat to fish will be at
greater risk of destruction because of changes to the Fisheries Act
contained within the budget implementation bill. Healthy fish habitat is
important for fish and for the people and businesses that depend on
them.

Recipe Index

Welcome to Vegetable Japan a blog I began when I lived in Japan for 9 years and couldn't find any resources for vegetarian living. Now I'm home in Nova Scotia but I still harbour Japanese ethos and love of Japanese food, along with re-discovering my roots in this province. Warning: I'm a fervent human rights advocate and do-it-yourself promoter, along with being a human and animal lover and ocean admirer. And for the last two and a half years I caregive for my mom with Parkinson's.

I made a Recipe Index to round up my recipes. They're all gluten-free, vegetarian, and dairy-free, but occasionally use small amounts of cheese or organic eggs. When cheese is used I try to offer non-dairy alternatives or suggestions. I include vegan recipes regularly. If you have a request for one you'd like, or a variation on something, please leave a comment.